The Crayon Master
by Reinbeauchaser
Summary: LeoMike centric. A silly oneshot, no purpose, other than to show that Leo can see Mike as more than just a goofball. A chibi turtle story. The guys are eight years old.


_**Disclaimer **– I only own the coloring book and the crayons. All other participants of this story belong to E&L, Mirage, and whoever else is getting paid royalties on the turtles. _

_This is a chibi turtle story, the guys are about eight years old, and it's written in the first person narrative. It's also a reply to a challenge someone from another site offered up. _

_As a sidenote, there isn't any underlying purpose, no plans to continue, it's just a simple, one-shot story to amuse the masses. A Leo/Mikey centric fic._

_Enough said. :0) _

_…………………………………………………………………………………………………………_

**The Crayon Master**

Master Splinter has left me in charge again. Seems he trusts my judgment and I guess I've more than earned it. After all, I'm the most skilled of my three brothers in the dojo; at least, according to Father, I am.

Of course, he told me this out of earshot from the others. Last thing I'd need would be for Raphael to find out and then try to prove otherwise, not that I have anything to worry about. I know that getting him angry is a sure-fire way to upend any attempt on his part to overpower me and, if there's one thing I know how to do, it's getting him angry. Heh.

Still, it would be nice not to be in charge for once, where I can kick back and enjoy the evening, while Father is out getting supplies.

I consider my younger brothers and wish I were one of them. Well, maybe not Raphael. He always seems so angry all the time. Right now he's sulking in his room because he smart-mouthed Sensei – again - and now he's prohibited from watching his favorite wrestling show. Sensei grounded him for two days; no television, no going topside, and a few extra katas during morning and evening practice.

Seems my brother never learns.

Donnie is also in his room, but working on a broken radio Splinter brought back to the lair a few evenings ago. Something he found in a dumpster behind Joe's Electronics.

Anyway, Don's been having the time of his life trying to get the radio to work again. It's practically new, but it looks worse for wear if only because half of it is crunched, as if someone had stepped on it. No doubt, though, my genius brother will get it to work.

As for Mikey, well, right now he's lying on the tattered rug in front of the couch in our living room, a blue crayon in hand. He's just learned to color inside the line and …well, now he can't stay away from the partly used coloring book and the few broken crayons Sensei found a month ago. It's been a god-send, actually, giving my impish brother something else to do rather than causing havoc in our home. It's been quite a while since his last prank, and for that I'm most grateful. Being the brother in charge can be so exhausting sometimes, and I'm certain I've rained on Mike's parade more than I should.

Oh well, it's the curse of being oldest, I guess.

Anyway, I have to chuckle to myself as I watch my little brother strain his hand to stay inside the lines, his tongue sticking out in severe concentration. He tries so hard, he really does, but he's still a bit behind in some things. Even though Master Splinter says that we're all around the same age, Mikey seems younger, if only because he takes longer to learn his katas and lessons.

Still, despite his awkwardness, I have to admit that he does bring a bit of sunlight into our normally dismal shadowed world. The way his laughter bounces off the walls whenever he's bugged Raph enough to chase him, adds a bit of fun to our boring lives. However, as it's been for me, the coloring book has given my red-banded brother a bit of reprieve from Mike's teasing…well, add to that Splinter's imposed punishment, too.

Actually, Mikey had ignored the book and crayons for the longest time, if only because Raphael made fun of him. With Mike's first attempt, his crayons seemed to go everywhere but inside the lines of whatever it was he was trying to color.

Too tempting to pass up, Raph accused Mike of being unworthy of the name, Michelangelo. Despite his happy nature, my little orange-banded brother has sensitive feelings and it hurts whenever Raphael teases him like that. As it was, Mikey ran to his room and cried afterwards and I had to go and assure him that, with practice, he would learn to color the right way.

Sometimes Raph can be so mean.

Anyway, I'm currently sitting at our dining table, waiting for Sensei to get back from topside, and trying not to get bored. I'm always afraid to be anywhere but near where I can watch the door to our home. It was then when I notice Mikey looking at me.

"Hey, Leo," he finally says, his smile wide and inviting, "Wanna color with me?"

His crayon hesitates slightly on the paper as he awaits my answer.

Still, at age eight, where I'm the oldest and most skilled – well, as far as learning my katas and lessons the best – coloring seems beneath me. "Oh, I don't know, Mikey; I have to keep alert, you know, incase something happens."

"Like what?" Mike asks half-seriously, as he props himself up on one elbow. His tongue had retreated within the confines of his mouth, but he maintains his gaze on me, nonetheless.

Uncomfortably, I rub at the back of my neck, trying to think of a reason, "Oh, I dunno," I really didn't want to color, "incase of a fire, or incase one of those maintenance people come snooping around."

"How can there be a fire when there's nothin' but concrete, Leo..." Mike sniggered. My brother might be slow in some things, but he can be quite sharp about other things, too. "...and there hasn't been anyone around in a long time. I mean, we're in an abandoned part of the sewers, right, Splinter picked this one 'specially, just to make sure no one finds us, right?" Mike asks as his eyes widened slightly. Even though he sounded confident and sure, I could tell that my words worried him and now…well, now I'm sorry I said them.

"Hey," I chuckled slightly, "You're right, of course, Mike. No one's gonna find us." I see his confidence return to his face again and I sigh silently in relief. Ah, the bold, fearless brother saves the day – again. Wish I didn't have to be that way all the time, it would be nice for someone else to be fearless – and bold.

"So," my brother asks; his eyes bright, now that he's convinced we're safe once again, "Gonna color with me?"

I look towards the hallway that leads to where my other brothers' were. The last thing I'd need would be for Raphael to get brazen and go against Sensei's orders, and then leave his room. My luck, I'd be on the floor, fully engaged in coloring with Mikey, when he did that, too. Then, I can just imagine the taunting Raph would give me - Fearless Leader coloring with the baby in the family. Yeah, then the next time Splinter leaves me in charge, Raph'll be more than just obnoxious.

Still, the pleading expression on Mike's face and eyes convince me that he's really a con artist deep down inside. Before I could excuse myself a second time from his request, I find myself saying, "Sure, Mike, I'll... color with you."

The next thing I know, I'm on my stomach alongside Mikey, a green crayon in hand, and doing my best to stay inside the lines. Although I did a fairly good job of it, I can't ignore the fact that I need a bit more practice at coloring. Determinedly - and silently - I decide that this is another area in my life that needs improvement. Looks like I've added one more thing to perfect, too.

Being the oldest has its requirements after all.

I then look over at my little brother as he grabs up a brown crayon and attacks the pony printed on his side of the coloring book. I smile inwardly as he fills in the open area of the animal with the sienna hue. As I watch, I notice that not once did he push the color outside the boundaries of the lines. His attempt was painstakingly slow, but, nonetheless, almost flawless.

He glances at my side of the book and then catches me looking at him. I guess I had an expression on my face that was less than happy, because Mike's next words stun me.

"Hey, Leo, don't worry about it, bro," he smiles warmly, "the more you color, the more you'll get better - just like me!" And then he goes back to his brown crayon and the pony he's coloring.

I definitely have to work harder at it, that's all there is to it.

As I return to my side of the book and tackle it, and as my crayon stubbornly fights to stay within the leafy branches of the tree I'm trying to color, I realize one very intriguing fact. Regardless of my prowess in the dojo, regardless of how adept I think I am, where it concerns coloring, Mikey is the crayon master, no doubt about it.


End file.
